Just How Good Is Mack Brown Recruiting?

UNC coach is getting players everyone wants and getting whoever he wants

Mack Brown has quickly transformed North Carolina’s recruiting. The Tar Heels had the No. 13 class in the nation this year, according to Sports Illustrated All-American.

Looking inside the numbers shows just how dominant Brown has been this year, improving significantly on what was an outstanding recruiting cycle last year.

The Tar Heels are landing prospects that everyone wants. On Wednesday, UNC signed four prospects who had Alabama offers, six with Ohio State offers, three with Clemson offers and one with a Notre Dame offer.

Overall, UNC signees had an average of 21.6 other scholarship offers, including 18.1 from Power Five programs. That’s up from an average of 13 offers, 10.4 from Power Five in last year’s class.

Not only is Brown getting prospects everyone wants, he’s getting the vast majority of the prospects he goes after, as a look at his recruiting win-loss record shows.

A coach gets a “win” over another program if he signs a player the other program offered. For instance, Keeshawn Silver had offers from Alabama, Florida, NC State, Duke and about three dozen other schools. That gives Brown wins over each of those teams.

On the flip side, Brown and UNC offered running back Will Shipley, who signed with Clemson. That gives him a loss against Dabo Swinney.

Brown had a winning percentage over 79 percent when going up against Power Five teams. That’s up 150 points over last year’s impressive 64 percent rate. He’s beating the SEC. He’s beating the ACC. And he’s dominating the Big 10 and Big 12.

In our next installment, we’ll look at Brown’s record against top teams and UNC’s biggest rivals.